Today we celebrate the life of our mother, and what a life that was. After reading through the book that Mummy started to write and had halfway completed, I found out aspects of Mummy’s life and character that I had not fully appreciated until now. Ironic indeed, but is not irony a huge part of all our lives? Sheila Doris Corkery nee Clitheroe , wife, mother of six and grandmother of 12 was born on 20th December 1936. She was an only child who enjoyed visiting aunts and uncles and playing with her cousins. Growing up, like us all, Sheila wanted what she didn’t have which for her was siblings, and so her cousins and friends were her sisters, in particular Rosalyn, Jane, Karen, Jill and Iris. I remember being present as a child when Mummy spent many good times with these special women in her life. Mummy wanted a large family so that her children could have what she had always wanted, and that dream became possible on 16th February 1954 when she met Patrick Corkery during a dance at the Southampton Guildhall. They fell in love, she 17 and he 21, and over 3 years of courtship Sheila’s parents Thomas and Doris Clitheroe came to love Patrick as the son they never had. From the moment Mummy walked down the aisle on 8th June 1957 she kept her promise to be loyal, caring and loving to Daddy till her death almost 54 years later. Mummy always supported Daddy and did everything she could to ensure his happiness and well being and this is just one example of the many ways in which Mummy was a great role model for their six children. Sheila appeared quiet and demure in her 20’s and she was very unassuming as she learned to adapt from being an only child living at home with 2 very attentive parents, to running a household for herself and her husband. She had to learn quickly because in just over a year she had to learn about pregnancy and less than 2 years after getting married Sheila started the lifelong lesson on motherhood. Our mother had 4 children in under 5 years and while she was in hospital having her 4th, Susan, our father was taking Philip to his first day of school. 4 months later Patrick and Sheila bought a larger house and moved from Sholing to Bitterne. I remember being with Mummy in the old empty house as she knelt and scrubbed the floors to prepare it for us to move in. Daddy worked hard too. They were a team and they both worked tirelessly with the goal of giving their children every opportunity to be successful in life. Sheila was a wonderful mother. When we were young she took us on many outings to the park, the beach, visiting friends. She taught us to color and count and say our A,B,C’s. She read us stories and poems and we all started school well prepared. We were the first recipients of Mummy’s teaching abilities. As a homemaker Mummy kept a neat, clean, organised house with rooms for us to play in and rooms for us to stay out of to keep nice for guests. The effort, creativity and satisfaction that went into the decor of those rooms has now been passed on to some of her children; another example of the great role model our mother was. Mummy also knitted and sewed outfits for all of us. She was never idle. While Sheila may have appeared shy, she actually had an adventurous side and she was always trying something new. In her 30’s and 40’s she attended many different classes and joined numerous organisations. She entered competitions for embroidery, knitting, toymaking, baking and flower arranging and was highly placed in most categories. She learned to play the guitar, to swim and to drive a car. In her 50’s she travelled to America for 5 weeks and visited eight of the states. Sheila always valued education and over the decades was constantly trying to complete her own education despite all her other responsibilities. Mummy had incredible determination with this goal because she had numerous disappointments along the way as she struggled to pass exams, but she persevered and got to the point of working on a maths degree at Open University. She was about half way through her maths degree when she realised arts and crafts would suit her better so she put together a portfolio. Anyone who has seen anything our mother has ever created knows how talented she was, but the world of academia did not value her portfolio enough to grant her the opportunity to go to college for further study in that area. A big blow for Mummy, but that would not deter her. She continued to educate herself, as she had done for decades, and eventually found her niche in Southampton teaching Maths and Crafts which she thoroughly enjoyed for 25 years. Finally Sheila was somebody, she had a title, she was more than a wife and mother, she was a teacher. Mummy was very proud of that accomplishment and so she should be. What a journey it took for her to get there! This eulogy would not be complete without making reference to Mummy’s creativity. If you put everything she ever made into one place it would be a huge display. The thing that would stand out is that she was creative in so many different disciplines; writing, knitting, dressmaking, embroidery, lacework, crotchet, painting, drawing, gardening, baking, flower arranging, card making and general craft work. Sheila spent her whole life finding different ways to be creative from subscribing to Pins and Needles magazines when she was younger to attending Skillshare up until one year ago. Everything Mummy did involved an eye for aesthetics and creativity. Her home is a treasure trove of items created meticulously by her. She never stopped, her hands were never idle, right up until 2 days before her death she was knitting toys and making cards. Mummy was creative and precise in everything she did. Just weeks ago, as she struggled to get dressed for the day, she carefully chose garments that were color coordinated from the slippers on her feet to the scarf in her hair. Mummy wrote diaries and was an avid record keeper. She also wrote letters which have been received by many of you sitting here today. She has left with us countless details about our upbringing and stories from the journey that was her life. From her words there can be no doubt Sheila certainly knew how to make the most of life. And so the legacy of Sheila Doris Corkery has to be the wisdoms and values passed on to her children as she demonstrated then throughout her life; Stay true to yourself Always follow your heart If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well Have faith in your abilities and don’t give up Determination, hard work and perseverance are strengths that will serve you well in life. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again Where there is a will there is a way Appreciate the smaller things in life Beauty is in the eye of the beholder The more you give in life, the more you get out of life Always look on the bright side of life Thanks Mum